North Shore Connector
Background * http://www.portauthority.org/grow/capital/northshore/index.asp Links Media * Editorial: Start digging / The Port Authority keeps the connector on track, July 15, 2006, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -- The Port Authority board made a difficult, and correct, decision Thursday to move ahead with the North Shore Connector that will extend Allegheny County's light-rail system to the North Side. The $435 million project, which will build twin tunnels under the Allegheny River, has become controversial because of rising construction bids and the transit system's dicey operating budget. * http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/9511582/detail.html * Port Authority gives nod to twin tunnels under Allegheny River, July 14, 2006, by Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Port Authority board of directors awarded a $156.5 million contract yesterday for construction of two Light Rail Transit tunnels under the Allegheny River. * North_Shore_Connector-editorial-Pitt_News from Feb 2009 says it is a waste but should be finished. New rail route no sure thing :Source, Jim Ritchie, TRIBUNE-REVIEW, July 15, 2006 No one is certain that Port Authority of Allegheny County's $435 million light-rail extension under the Allegheny River won't become another lemon, even some who approved moving forward with it this week. Supporters lauded the decision to award the first contract for the North Shore Connector, but critics continue to worry about rising costs, lofty projections and whether the project should be a priority. "We're not Virginia Beach," Greenfield resident Jimmy Sterner said Friday at a bus stop Downtown. Extending the T to Oakland and Squirrel Hill, or even along Carson Street, makes more sense, he said. "What do we want this for? I think it's a big mistake." Construction of the subway link from Downtown to the North Side is scheduled to start in early fall. The Port Authority board's 5-2 vote ensures the project moves forward, although County Council says it won't approve a $1.8 million increase in the county's contribution. "I don't believe Port Authority anymore," said Councilman Matt Drozd, an opponent of the project. "I lost trust in them. I think they have a track record of bad decisions." Some of the authority's five board members who backed the project did so with hesitation. "If I were picking projects today, this might not be the one I would pick, but it's the one we inherited," said member Jeff Letwin, who worried that stopping the project would make the Federal Transit Administration reluctant to grant money for future local projects. Critics doubt the connector will attract 10,000 daily riders expected in 2012, its first year of operation, and are concerned about paying the $2.5 million projected annual operating cost. Those concerns are exacerbated by Port Authority usage projections that fell far short for its West Busway in 2000, the Wabash High Ocuupancy Vehicle Tunnel in 2004, and the South Hills Village parking garage in 2005. "I have serious concerns about a tunnel under the Allegheny River," said authority board member James Dodaro, who voted against the project. "The history of late at Port Authority, in terms of projected usage, revenue and expenses, is not a good one. That's a concern." The West Busway initially was projected to draw 50,000 new riders on an eight-mile road that would include a bridge over the Monongahela River. Rising costs forced the authority to kill the bridge and shorten the road by three miles. Revised projections reduced the count to 10,000 daily riders, which the authority is just shy of today at 8,475. When the agency renovated the Wabash high-occupancy vehicle tunnel, it projected 4,500 vehicles daily would use it by 2014. Current usage is about 390 vehicles daily. City Councilman Jim Motznik in April urged the Port Authority to open the tunnel to all motorists. "The reason they had for reopening the tunnel is that it would take a certain amount of traffic off the roads and ease congestion in the Fort Pitt Tunnel and Liberty Tunnel, and it hasn't done any of that," Motznik said. When the authority built the South Hills Village parking garage, it projected that 1,100 customers would pay to use it. About 325 customers park in the $24 million garage in Bethel Park daily. The 2,200-space garage costs $350,000 annually to maintain. The agency's difficulty with these projects has been offset by some successes, especially the 2004 opening of the Overbrook T line and 2003 extension of the Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway. Ridership on the T has increased 11.3 percent, from 22,250 weekday riders in 2004 to 24,763 daily riders, since the faster Overbrook line opened about two years ago. Ridership on the East Busway has increased 7 percent, from 23,549 daily riders in 2003 to 25,186 daily riders today, since the private bus road was extended more than two miles, from Wilkinsburg to Swissvale. Some fear the North Shore Connector won't be the success its supporters predict, and it already has had problems. The connector's initial construction cost of $393 million has increased by $42 million, and it no longer includes a link to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. "It's just going to be a gigantic boondoggle," said Jake Haulk, president of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy, a Castle Shannon think tank. "The North Shore has some development over there, but those people have been getting over there anyway. This thing was built for the benefit of the stadium people." County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Mayor Bob O'Connor would rather extend the T from Downtown to Oakland. Onorato still backed the connector because more than $300 million in federal grants were pledged. The money would be lost if Port Authority switched directions to Oakland. Oakland groups pushing for better transit service do not oppose the North Shore Connector but say the bustling educational and medical hub is desperate. "I think Oakland needs it," said Oakland Planning & Development Corporation Executive Director David Blenk. "We're full. We're full of cars." County Council appears to be the last financial hurdle for the North Shore Connector project. Council this week was unwilling to increase the county's portion of the project to $14.5 million, but is expected to approve paying $12.7 million toward it in December when it votes on a 2007 capital budget, said Onorato spokesman Kevin Evanto. Onorato anticipates Port Authority will have to find the remaining $1.8 million in its capital budget, Evanto said. "One would assume that if Port Authority is only a million dollars shy of getting $435 million ... they'll find a way to get that million," he said. "A million is really not that much." Blogs * http://pittsblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/boring-future.html * http://jonathanpotts.blogspot.com/2006/07/on-one-hand.html from July, 2006 * http://progresspittsburgh.net/?p=90 Tunnel, is anything better than nothing? from November, 2006.